BoJo's dad insisted the Tory leadership hopeful 'said what needed to be said' and should have 'gone a bit further'

He was against ‘banning the burka’. But surely, there are circumstances where a ban or appropriate restrictions would be in order.

"Shouldn’t female school-teachers, nurses or doctors be seen as well as heard? At least, the House of Commons could have a sensible debate on this issue.”

Mr Johnson stressed he is not totally uncritical of everything his son says or does but said on this occasion he has his full support – and that of many friends who have told him Boris “hit the nail on the head”.

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Stanley, 78 next week, said it was an own-goal for the Tories to launch a probe into whether the word ‘letter box’ breaches party rules

He asked: “So why the all furore? Why has this disastrous ‘blue-on-blue’ warfare broken out? The Chairman of the Conservative Party is setting up a Committee of Enquiry into whether Boris’s use of the word ‘letter box’ breaches party rules.

“If that isn’t an own-goal, I don’t know what is. Mr Corbyn must be rubbing his hands with glee.

“Maybe it’s just the silly season. Seventeen years ago, John Prescott punched a protestor who threw an egg at him and lightened the national mood overnight. Where are you, John, today when we need you?”